Parishioners have six months to earn as much as possible

Reverend Dr Hugh White, of Deddington Church in Oxfordshire has given each of his parishioners �10 to invest as they wish.

The idea is that they use it to raise even more money to donate to the church.

It mirrors the Biblical 'Parable of the Talents' where a man gives a coin to each of his servants to invest.

We wanted to come up with a way of raising money that had a bit of Christian relevance John Sampson

The church is trying to raise money to set up a new quiet area in the building, which they say will also be opened to local children in the evenings.

Parishioners who have taken on the challenge have six months to earn as much as possible for the church.

Parishioner John Sampson, who helped come up with the scheme said: "We wanted to come up with a way of raising money that had a bit of Christian relevance.

"We don't want it to look like we're just raising money for the congregation - we want to benefit the whole community.

"We intend to open up the quiet room area to local young people in the evenings, as there's very little for them to do round here."